Q&A: Ohne Titel Designers on Their New Retail Installation

Published December 9, 2011•Updated on December 9, 2011 at 1:18 pm

Courtesy of BOFFO/Evan Joseph

Ohne Titel designers Flora Gill and Alexa Adams and architecture firm Easton + Combs have collaborated on the fifth and final BOFFO Building fashion installation, which has featured collaborations between designers and architecture firms in an installation space on 57 Walker Street in Tribeca, including participants like Nicola Formichetti and The Lake & Stars. The current incarnation of the space features folding and interlocking aluminum components that are tethered and woven together and pieces from Ohne Titel’s current and past collections that are available for purchase, including the label’s first resort collection.

Adams (right) told us of the collaboration: “It’s a really unique opportunity. Unless you're one of the big labels, it's pretty much impossible to have your own retail space these days. We’ve always wanted to have our own store. We’ve always wanted to do something where we could create the environment and the space to the put the collection in. For us, we are used to selling in different stores. We sell in Barneys, and we are in their aesthetic. But it’s so great to be able to create your own environment.”

Gill (left) said of the space, “It’s not a very typical retail environment. There is just so much to look at and so much to touch.”

The process of working with Easton + Combs was very collaborative, according to the designers. “It’s cool that Easton + Combs is a duo and that we are a duo,” Adams said. “We had a lot of meetings about the things that we are inspired by in their work, that we thought is similar to our work. They do a lot that is very installation-based. It’s all very sculptural and about undulating forms. They are also very interested in color and material, and we are interested in that too in our work. So we wanted to find some way to bring that all together.”

Price points in the pop-up are discounted to the make the collection more accessible. One of the labels’ sweaters is selling for $264, for instance. Adams said, “We have things at really opening price points because we want women to wear it. And then there are a few special things that are more extreme but really special like this fur and shearling jacket that you can turn inside out.”

As for what the designer duo is currently working on, Gill shared, “We are deep into Fall [2012]. We are having our first fittings actually. It’s really exciting. It’s that time when everything comes in and you get to see your drawings realized.”